Most games that fall under the label “art games” are games that tend to limit the interactivity and/or fun in order to have a message. The classic board game Monopoly is a great example of this: the original version of the game was created by Elizabeth Magie in 1902 and it was called the “The Landlord’s Game.” It was essentially an art game that was supposed to demonstrate to the players how landlords abuse the tenants and have an unfair advantage and can use the system to enrich themselves. Then the Parker Brothers noticed that it was more fun abusing the tenants and made a game that celebrated being rich and making money on the real estate market: Monopoly.

Hence most of the celebrated art games have a very limited interactivity and try to stay away from “fun” mechanics. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

Petri Purho